Archive for July, 2011

Creative Circle North East

By On July 20, 2011 In News With Comments Off Permanent Link to Creative Circle North EastPermalink

I have stated how important, as a freelancer, it is to have a network of people to call upon to complete projects. Creative projects are rarely carried out by one person as it requires the creativity and flair of various people and their expertise to get the best of a project.

I have been working with Alan Sawyers for over a year now and along the way have created further contacts on my own. Not only have I improved myself over the last year but so have my resources.

Creative Circle North East is a site that brings it all together, so if you need something creative then ‘The Circle’ should be able to meet all your needs. The other bonus is that we have all worked together before so we know how each other works and have commitments to one another.

We plan to grow in the future so if you’re interested then please get in contact with me or through the Creative Circle North East site.

Web Design should not be driven by ‘the fold’

By On July 12, 2011 In Web Design With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Web Design should not be driven by ‘the fold’Permalink

I recently worked with a client who insisted the design should be catered around ‘the fold’. Subsquently, the site design suffered hugely and I was unable to put the site in my portfolio as it did not represents work that I was capable of – I was happy with my original design but when put under the limitations of ‘the fold’ rule the website looked like a different animal.

What is ‘the fold’?

The fold is an imaginary line seperates the content that is visable without scrolling horizontally when the website first loads up.

True, catching the users eye is key and efforts should be made to strategically place items on a page to attract their attention, however the concept of ‘the fold’ is flawed and therefore should not dictate your design.

With the amount of different resolutions there really is no concept of a true ‘fold’. You might not even be sure they are using a desktop computer or laptop – they could be using one of the vast array of mobile devices.

Elements such as your logo, navigation and maybe a strapline is important nearer the top of the page, as Internet users are fickle and you need to grab their attention.

People are willing to scroll

If you have your good stuff nearer the top of the page then people are willing to scroll to get the information they need. It goes without saying that the more important details should be outlined nearer to the top but so long as your navigation around the site is easy to use then users will find what they are looking for.

So less time concentrating on ‘the fold’ please, and more time concentrating on what may make your site stand out from the crowd.